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| The Week in Review 3-10/04/2011 |
| (2011-04-08) |
| Last updated: 2011-04-11 15:34 EET |
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Romanian FM Teodor Baconschi traveled to France as part of a diplomatic campaign to convince EU partners that Bucharest is in full compliance with the technical criteria set to be allowed to join the Schengen zone. Initially slated for March, Romania’s and Bulgaria’s accession into the free-movement zone was postponed because of opposition from several European states, among which France and Germany. The latter voiced their disappointment over Romania’s failure to combat corruption and organized crime. French FM Alain Juppe told his Romanian counterpart that being received into the Schengen area was a sensitive issue in bilateral relations and from the viewpoint of the European agenda. Juppe hailed Bucharest’s accession efforts, but said that more progress needs to be made.
The scandal involving Romanian Euro deputy Adrian Severin, suspected of bribe-taking and traffic of influence, is far from over. This week, the National Anticorruption Directorate in Romania has called on the European Parliament to lift Severin’s immunity in order to be able to investigate him. The scandal broke out after British newspaper The Sunday Times made public a video recording showing Severin and other 2 Euro MPs, a Slovenian and an Austrian, seemed to accept money in exchange for submitting and supporting amendments to several laws. Severin is the only one who refused to resign from the European Parliament, but he was excluded from he Socialist group. Severin’s stance in the matter caused his colleagues in Strasbourg, the Romanian media and NGOs to speak out against him in tough terms.
This week Romania has received several warnings from the European commission regarding the failure to meet EU environment norms, namely energy and natural gas prices. The commission shows that, in 15 areas of the country, the concentration of dust in the air exceeds health safety limits. Brussels has also called on Bucharest to get its national legislation in line with EU laws regarding energy and natural gas prices for end consumers. The European Commission believes that setting these prices through state intervention hinders new operators when entering the market, and deprives home and industrial users of their right to pick the best services. Bucharest has two months at its disposal to settle the issues under contention, risking otherwise to be deferred again to the European Court of Justice. On Thursday, the court decided that the so-called ‘first registration fee’ charged in Romania violates European law. The Court believes the fee hinders car imports, including second-hand vehicles, from other member states of the Union. The already controversial tax, instituted in 2008, has already undergone several modifications as a result of criticism both from within and from abroad.
On Friday, the body of UN diplomat Filaret Moţco was brought back home to Romania. He was killed in the bloody attack on the UN offices in the Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif. The Romanian Defense Ministry held an official ceremony. In appreciation for his prestigious career in international organizations, Filaret Moţco was awarded posthumously the National Faithful Order in Knight’s Rank. The Romanian diplomat was deputy to the head of the UN regional office in Mazar-i-Sharif, and the highest ranking political expert there. At only 43 years of age, he was already a veteran of UN missions, and had taken part in OSCE missions in Tajikistan, Chechnya, and Kyrgyzstan. The Romanian authorities firmly condemned the violence that killed him, and asked for the Afghan authorities to do everything in their power to bring to justice the perpetrators of the attack.
April 8 2011 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Romanian philosopher and writer Emil Cioran. He was born in 1911 in the Transylvanian village of Rasinari. He lived in Romania until the age of 27. His first books were published in his native country. In 1937 he left for Paris on a scholarship, and in 1940 he took up residence in France. After that, he only published in the French language. His works are appreciated not only for their content, but are considered some of the finest writing in French in recent times. One day before the anniversary of his birth, in Paris a special auction was held for the sale of some of Cioran’s manuscripts and personal effects. A Romanian-American collector bought the lot for 406,000 Euro, four times more than the appraised value of the collection. The auction was also attended by the Romanian public television service and the Romanian Central University Library. After the event, the winner told the press that he intended to donate the manuscripts to the Romanian state.
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